J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $125.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. J. M. Smucker traded as low as $91.64 and last traded at $92.1870, with a volume of 98145 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.79.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.93.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 238.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,924,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765,559 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,392,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,807,000 after purchasing an additional 850,943 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,783,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,232,000 after purchasing an additional 151,872 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,486,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,214,000 after acquiring an additional 357,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 45.4% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,251,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,140,000 after acquiring an additional 703,382 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $105.03 and a 200 day moving average of $103.81.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 14.07%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently -37.32%.

J. M. Smucker Company Profile

The J. M. Smucker Company is a diversified food and beverage manufacturer and marketer known for a portfolio of well-established consumer brands. The company’s main business activities include the production and distribution of fruit spreads, peanut butter, coffee and coffee filters, as well as pet food and pet snacks. Smucker’s core product lines serve both retail and foodservice customers through grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience outlets and e-commerce channels.

Among its leading brands are Smucker’s® fruit spreads, Jif® peanut butter, Folgers® and Dunkin’® coffees, and Café Bustelo® coffee.